A system and method for managing a vehicle Ethernet communication network are disclosed. More specifically, each unit in a vehicle Ethernet communication network is configured to initially enter a power-on (PowerOn) mode when is applied to each unit of the vehicle to initialize operational programs. Once powered on, each unit enters a normal mode in which a node for each unit participates in a network to request the network. Subsequently, each unit enters a sleep indication (SleepInd) mode where other nodes are not requested even though the network has already been requested by the other nodes. A communication mode is then terminated at each unit and each unit enters a wait bus sleep (WaitBusSleep) mode in which all nodes connected to the network are no longer in communication and are waiting to switch to sleep mode. Finally, each unit is powered off to prevent communication between units in the network.